The beginning of the year is an opportune time to set expectations, establish

predictable structures and create rules. More importantly, as Wong and Wong
point out in How to be an Effective Teacher: The First Days of School (1998),
by understanding the achievements of students in June are directly related to
the degree in which the teacher established good control of classroom
procedures in the very first week, Im able to help my class move toward an
orderly, cooperative, and stimulating learning environment; thus allowing
myself and my students to be prepared to handle the inevitable moments of
conflict and discord constructively in order to turn them into teaching moments.
There is no foolproof plan for successful teaching, no pat answers, no quick
fixes. To be an effective teacher I must engage my students, and their parents,
while also being an advocate for social responsibility not only in my classroom
but also in our community and the world we live in. Idealistically my plan is to
never need my conflict resolution plan. My plan is to build a classroom
community, which extends beyond the school walls, where students voices can
be heard, where students are encouraged to share their own ideas as well as
respectfully respond to the ideas of others, where students recognize they have
the power to make positive change.
-Eileen MacPherson